I hate debt and I hate spending. I hate incurring it myself and I hate it when the government incurs it.
But I also hate hypocrisy.
When Trump came to office, the National Debt was $19.95 trillion.
When he left, it was $27.76 trillion.
$7.81 trillion. And the GOP said NOTHING
We're in a pandemic now. America has about 2.5 million fewer jobs today than we had four years ago. That missing money has put a lot of people in financial jeopardy. The tax revenue lost by government and the toll on businesses has been staggering. Many are barely surviving.
That $7.8 trillion dollars in additional debt that America incurred during the Presidency of Donald Trump, which the GOP members of Congress had no problem with whatsoever based on their public comments, is more than four times the cost of the COVID bill. @HouseGOP@SenateGOP
What exactly did America get for the $7.8 trillion in the additional National Debt we now owe that the born-again fiscal hawks had no problem with for four years? I have no idea.
I do have an idea of what's in the COVID bill. It could be smaller. But some of it makes sense.
About a quarter of it goes to give $1,400 stimulus checks to people and households fall below a certain threshold. Who will likely spend much of it. Which will stimulate the economy.
About an eighth of it goes to unemployment. And there are people who need that right now.
There's money for health insurance for people laid off, aid to state and local governments, money for schools, and money for COVID testing, tracing and vaccine distribution.
Could I cut out parts of it. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. But I wouldn't let people who are in desperate need to not get help and have their benefits expire to do it.
What really bothers me is that America's National Debt increased by 39% in just four years, two of which where the GOP controlled the Presidency, the House and the Senate. And the people howling the loudest now had NOTHING to say then. That makes me not want to hear them now.
By the way, on the minimum wage part ...
I don't think that should be part of this bill. The purpose of this bill should be relief for COVID and the effects of it.
I do think the minimum wage should be raised. But I think the true answer is an amount that is indexed per area.
In other words, a dollar means very different things depending on where you live.
Earning $15 per hour and working 40 days a week for 52 days a year would earn a salary of $31,200.
$31,200 in New York City is the same as $9,971 in Memphis, TN. Which is $4.79 an hour.
My biggest concern about having a national minimum wage which assumes that a dollar is worth the same everywhere is, what happens if small businesses have to pay an amount of money that is a fortune in that geography?
It's not just big corporations that pay people.
The issue of wages and the cost of a dollar in different places is complex. It deserves serious consideration. And should not be mingled with this bill.
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One year ago, in February, 2020, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 158.7 million Americans were employed.
In February, 2021, the number of employed Americans is down to 150.2 million.
(Source: bls.gov)
And if you total all the monthly jobs reports from last March through the one that was released yesterday, even with the recent gains, America has lost 6.11 million jobs in the last 12 months.
That's a lot of money out of households.
A lot of small businesses struggling to survive. Or not surviving.
The @GOP is working hard to try to disenfranchise and to make it harder for black voters, particularly in urban communities, to vote.
But one of the biggest factors in Trump's 2020 loss is the fact that he did worse with white voters. He IMPROVED slightly with black voters.
Trump still won white voters overwhelmingly, 58-41 nationally. That's a 17 point margin.
But, in 2016, Trump won white voters 58-37. Which is a 21 point margin.
He lost 4 points with white voters.
This might not sound like a big deal. But in 2016, white voters represented 73.6% of the electorate (I'm looking forward to when @electproject updates the stats to be updated for demographic turnout for 2020).
Losing a net 4% of 73.6% of the electorate is 3 points.
Trump lost more jobs in a single term than any President since Herbert Hoover and was the least popular President in the history of modern polling. #TrumpSOTU
Since CPAC 2017, four years ago, the Republican Party has lost:
2 US Senate seats in Arizona
2 US Senate seats in Georgia
1 US Senate seat in Nevada
1 US Senate seat in Colorado
Since CPAC 2017, Trump's Party has lost:
The Governorships of Nevada, New Mexico, Kansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey and Maine.
For those in the CPAC Universe, nothing will probably convince you that Trump lost the election (or that the moon landing wasn’t faked or that George Soros isn’t controlling the weather - but I digress).
But here is some attempted cult de-programming, anyway ... #EarthToCPAC
Trump didn’t just lose AZ, GA, MI, PA and WI in 2020 after winning them in 2016. Trump’s entire PARTY got wiped out in these and other states in the four years Trump was in office.